Feds launch major review of environmental assessment laws

The Liberal government is embarking on a lengthy review of federal environmental laws to both undo Conservative changes to legislation and propose new mandates for regulators, several ministers said Monday.

In a joint news conference in the House of Commons foyer, six ministers with portfolios that impact the environment announced several separate legislative and regulatory reviews that will take place over the summer and fall.

While offering few details on how they will integrate those reviews, the ministers said the consultations will lead to more than just a reversal of changes made by the previous Conservative government and include recommendations to take some laws into new territory.

“The reason we need to consult is because we need to rebuild trust in the environmental assessment process, but we also need to modernize it,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna.

The multi-departmental review process includes consultation on one regulatory agency and four different pieces of legislation: the National Energy Board, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, the Fisheries Act and the Navigation Protection Act.

The National Energy Board (NEB) review is described as a “modernization” that will look at the regulator’s mandate in full, rather than just its work in environmental assessments. The public can comment on a draft terms of reference for an expert panel that will head the review until July 20, and the panel’s members will be named shortly after.

Their report will be finished by January 2017, said Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr. The review is a follow-up to interim changes the Liberal government announced this past January that apply to current major projects before the NEB, like the Trans Mountain and Energy East pipelines.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 will also be subject to an expert panel, with the same timeline for public input on its scope and the naming of its members. Consultations by the panel will begin in September and a report will be prepared by January 2017.

The recommendations could bring regulatory changes while others could require legislation, said McKenna.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities will review the Fisheries Act and the Navigation Protection Act, the ministers said. There was no timeline associated with those reviews.

While the committee-based reviews are specifically targeting changes made by the Conservative government in 2012, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the Liberal could end up keeping some of those reforms.

“Some of the changes that were made, we may end up saying they’re reasonable,” said Garneau. “But some of them we definitely will change.”

The previous Conservative government made gradual changes to assessment laws while in power, but their omnibus budget bill in 2012 became a political catalyst for environmental and indigenous groups opposed to the direction the Harper government undertook.

The budget bill introduced timelines and greater cabinet oversight for major project permitting, while also dramatically reducing the types of projects under the federal government’s ambit.

It overhauled the way the Fisheries Act offered protections for fish habitat and reduced the environmental component of the Navigable Waters Protection Act, as the Navigation Protection Act was then called.

The Liberals promised a review of environmental assessment laws during the election.

While the Liberals have focused their promises on saying regulators need stronger powers, they have been reticent to describe specific types of projects as so environmentally damaging that they should not be permitted to go ahead.

On Monday, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic Leblanc, who replaced Hunter Tootoo last month after the Nunavut MP’s surprise resignation, said the public expects high risk to be a test for which projects go forward.

“(Canadians) want us to ensure that economically beneficial and environmental responsible projects advance, and that projects with minimal benefits and high risk are not,” said Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic Leblanc.

Environmental groups cheered the government for looking at more than just a reversal of Harper-era policies.

“Fixing Canada’s environmental protection framework requires more than undoing the changes made by the previous government,” said Keith Brooks of Environmental Defence in a news release. “A modern approach, in keeping with the best science available, is needed to ensure that Canada effectively protects the environment and the health of Canadians.”

The integration of the four reviews should lead to a framework that can account for Canada’s greenhouse gas emission targets and find a way to enforce them, said Brooks.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May took exception with the length of the review process.

“There’s no reason Parliament cannot restore the pre-Harper legislation, and then move to consultation to further improve the process,” said May in a release.

But Stephen Hazell, director of conservation for Nature Canada, said the consultation needs to take a long time because it’s about rebuilding the public’s trust.

“The environmental assessment process, and the National Energy Board in particular, have lost the confidence of Canadians,” said Hazell. “We need to rebuild that and we’re going to do that overnight.”

It’s reasonable to expect legislation that would enforce the review’s recommendation by the end of the Liberal’s mandate, said Hazell.